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Shareholders have been paid an interim dividend of Sh3.50 per share, unchanged from the same period in 2017.

The firm has, however, been experiencing a tougher operating environment due to tighter regulatory controls and a rise in excise duty.

This has reflected in the performance of its share at the Nairobi Securities Exchange, where it has shed 21 per cent in price to Sh600, having opened 2018 at Sh760.

Part of the decline, analysts have said, is due to the apparent shift from a policy of paying 100 per cent of its net earnings as dividends. In the year ending December 2017, its total dividend payout stood at Sh26 a share or Sh2.6 billion total, equivalent to 79 per cent of net earnings of Sh3.3 billion.